Autumn in Adelaide : Rockclimbing @ Holden Hills

"Sometimes the only way is jumping, I hope you're not afraid of heights." - Gavin DeGraw

 

My friends in the car did not hold back their snickers and laughter when Shu Wen announced of my excitement to join her rockclimbing in the evening I arrived in Adelaide. Daniel and Obi guessed I would fly off into the thin air even though it is an indoor session. But who could blame them when they saw me in person at the airport? Everyone was gaining weight for winter I went the other way instead. I was literally blown a couple of steps backwards while walking in the street opposing the strong autumn wind. Ethan teased me being wrapped up in layers of clothes while he was just puffing cigarettes in clothes he wears even back home in hot hot Penang. For the four days I was in Adelaide, I befriended the fan heater and carried it to every room I go to. I defrosted with scorching hot cups of tea and showered in skin burning water temperature. Ah the weird delight of enjoying visible steam rushing out of the bathroom when I was done.

We braved the night wind to Vertical Reality Climbing in Holden Hills. I have never done rockclimbing before. I have never been to anywhere related to this sport too. And it was a sight for me upon entering the room. Walls separated by different colours marked the complications and challenges. Rocks with no sense of directions and formations ran its way all the way up to the ceiling. Some big, some small, some just might as well not exist because they will not help much in the ascending anyway. Ropes. Mountain hiking ropes linking from top to bottom. Two for each wall. Strong enough to hoist a living human being up to midair. Enthusiasts chose their walls and strapped on, ready to make their climb whenever their belayer is ready as well.

There was a short introduction. How to do this. What are the safety measures. Honestly, I was quite lost at some point of the briefing. I admit my attention span has gotten shorter and shorter by the day. I cannot pay attention for more than five minutes anymore. But well, I was not alone. Shu Wen and her friend were there to tend to me.

You wonder where this confidence came from. To just hold on to one rock after another, taking one step higher than the one before. Surely it cannot be only the thought of knowing you are safely strapped with a harness and your belayer is watching your every move. You give your belayer too much credit. Can you really trust him/her that much? You climb. Higher and higher. Until you are done. You are up there. You think to yourself, how is this possible. To fear climbing up so high and maybe slip and fall. And yet to climb anyway as if you will not have a fatal accident. It is simultaneous. Fear and courage just blends in together. Such paradox. How is this possible?

You cling onto dear life till your knuckles turn white. Your arms are giving in. It is time to let go if you ever want to come down. Do you really trust your belayer? What if he/she cannot control the rope well and you just drop into oblivion. (OK, I was just being dramatic. There were safety clips helping the belayer.) Letting go is really something. You have gotten so used to holding on. You have to let go. And fall.

You have to really trust your belayer here. It is not something you can easily give away. But the liberation. Oh the liberation. How sweet it tastes when you land safely on your own two feet.

Have you seen Our Lady Peace's Somewhere Out There music video? I love that video. I wrote two stories out of that song and made everyone cry. I am good at making people cry. Ask me, I should know. But I love that video. You see this girl climb up the speakers and sound systems and just fall herself into the crowd. Crowd surfing. I should try that some day and hope nobody gropes my boobs and ass. The feel of falling into hands you know will be there to catch you. Or not know. Scary. Yet not at the same time.

So there is this game I heard of in therapeutical sessions out there. How the therapist or whoever it is standing in front giving the seminar tells you to trust your partner. You stand in front of him/her and just fall back into his/her welcoming arms. You do not even know if the partner is paying attention or not. He might be checking out the girl in another group. Ooh nice ass. I wish I am groping hers instead of these. She might be daydreaming of her next manicure session. Funky Orange or Dazzling Pink. Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. Oh my gawd, I'm going to be carrying him? No way, I am going to chip my nails.

Trust. Such a strong word. Give in to liberation and just fall. How would you know it is not the hard ground that is going to welcome you instead? See, you do not know. This fear mixes with confidence. Amazing, is it not?

It looks challenging, I guess. With the gravity defying diagonal walls. I was doing fine at first until I was halfway through and suddenly there were no rocks up ahead for me to move on. I was stuck. And I suspected myself inching more and more towards the other wall for more rocks to hoist myself up. I think I lent a few rocks from the other wall to go past the blank space there.

What was next was a gap. A separation from one wall to another above. What. Now. I spent almost a minute figuring out my way to move forward. I wanted to come down. My arms were getting tired. Oh boy, I was high enough. There was no way to go on. But I did not come all the way to rockclimb in Adelaide to stop midway. And that rock hanging upside down in front of me is there for a reason. You just need to figure your way around it.

Nonetheless, I reached the top, felt the dusty and rusty maroon pipe above my head and hooted to my friends below. Now I have the bragging rights to go home and tell my friends I rockclimbed three fucking walls. How daft is that?